- Spain beat France 5-4 in a thrilling Nations League semi-final on Thursday
- The action-packed match was a financial disaster for bookmaker Paddy Power
- The number of goals and substitutions was the stuff of dreams for punters
Paddy Power punters will have arrived at work with a spring in their step on Friday morning after Thursday’s action-packed Nations League clash between Spain and France.
Fans were eagerly anticipating the semi-final showdown between two of the world’s top footballing nations with an array star attacking players on show.
And it didn’t disappoint in the slightest as a nine-goal thriller played out at the Stuttgart Arena.
European champions Spain tore through the back-to-back World Cup finalists with goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Merino giving them a 2-0 lead at half-time.
Lamine Yamal and Pedri netted a Kylian Mbappe penalty. Pedri then made it 5-1.
However, the French almost pulled off a miraculous comeback with goals from Rayan Cherki, Dani Vivian and Randal Kolo Muani seeing the game end 5-4.
Lamine Yamal’s Spain (left) were involved in a thrilling clash with Kylian Mbappe’s France
The substitution of Dani Vivian (right) for Robin Le Normand helped punters win half a million
And the incident-filled encounter was exactly what the bookies did not want to see.
It wasn’t just the goals that saw punters cash in but the impact of the 10 substitutions that were made during the game.
Paddy Power have offered Super Sub – where a bet stays alive and rolls on to the substituted player if they’re taken off – for 973 matches over the last 18 months. This was the most that the initiative ever cost the gambling company.
For example, Mail Sport understands that Vivian coming on for Robin Le Normand and immediately committing a foul won punters somewhere in the region of half a million pounds.
Samu Aghehowa’s shot on target after replacing Mikel Oyarzabal would have also cost Paddy Power a small fortune.
Gavi came on for Mikel Merino in 91st minute and was booked in 97th, costing the business around £200,000.
A Paddy Power spokesman said: ‘I thought the Nations League was supposed to be boring? I wish it bloody was!
‘But fair play to the punters. They’ve come in, taken advantage of Super Sub and absolutely pulled our pants down, leaving us licking our wounds at Power Tower today.’
